New York: Since Chris Christie doesn't want federal infrastructure billions, give it to us

[marmar]

Transportation officials are scrambling to reexamine how to spend as much as $1 billion in federal highway funding that had been pledged for a new Hudson River rail tunnel but could now go to other projects throughout New Jersey. At least one state is already making a bid for other federal dollars once marked for the tunnel.

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority will meet early next month to begin reworking their long-term spending plan, which had prominently featured the tunnel project. The authority is the clearinghouse for federally funded transportation projects in 13 northern New Jersey counties, including Bergen, Passaic, Morris and Hudson.

"We are going to have to go back and reexamine the plan," authority spokesman David Behrend said. "Every year we get federal funds and they're used for projects. We expect that that will continue now that some of the federal funds ... are going to be freed up for various transportation purposes."

But that $1 billion in Federal Highway Administration money is just a fraction of the total $8.7 billion that various agencies had pledged to cover the cost of the "Access to the Region's Core" project before Governor Christie shut it down on Oct. 27, citing cost overruns. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/transportation/106746968_Defunct_tunnel_project_funds_up_for_grabs.html